Knifeman has mental condition, court hears

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A suicidal knife-wielding man who was shot several times by police officers at a Wong Tai Sin public housing estate last month suffered from a mental condition that could make him lose control of some impulses, a court heard yesterday.

Chan Chun-kit, 20, appeared in Kwun Tong Court yesterday to face a count of wounding a police officer.

His left arm was bandaged and he limped slightly but walked without a cane, despite having been in critical condition after the shooting and unable to appear in court last month.

He is alleged to have cut a constable's arm with a chopper, with which he had been threatening to commit suicide, when two officers tried to subdue him in a fifth-floor lift lobby at Wang Lok House, Lok Fu Estate, on September 6. The officers fired six shots before subduing Chan, but police have not officially revealed how many hit him.

Police Commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung has pledged a thorough investigation into why the officers fired so many shots.

The court was told that Chan had gone to the East Kowloon Psychiatric Centre in August and was diagnosed with poor impulse control.

Prosecutor Brian Lai said the defendant's condition was a key factor in the case and asked for an adjournment. Acting principal magistrate Rickie Chan Kam-cheong adjourned the case to October 20, calling for two psychiatric reports.

The defendant entered no plea and was remanded in custody.

Chinese University psychiatrist Dr Lee Sing said poor impulse control was not an illness and 'means a person has difficulty in controlling his impulses, like eating impulse, sexual impulse and aggressive impulsive'.